On Words and Business

As a customer, the only reason to care about the content you put up on your website is because it will help me make a decision: about what to buy, why to buy it, how it will help me solve a problem, why I can’t (or shouldn’t) live without it.

Is the content you create for your customers educational? Do it teach them something?

Do you know what core business goals your product or service helps your customers achieve?

Such as:

• Increased revenues
• Decreased costs
• Improved operational efficiency
• Faster time to market
• Improved customer loyalty
• Increased inventory turns
• Decreased risk
• Improved competitive differentiation
• Increased market share
• Faster sales cycle
• Decreased employee turnover

This is why they’ll listen to you.

Your customers have a need.

Your company has the solution.

Your job is to help them understand that connection.

This is where content marketing comes in: share success stories, case studies, white papers, newsletters. Materials to help your customers understand the challenges they face. And how your product or service will solve it and help them achieve their goals.

The heart of content marketing is providing information for your customers. But what information?

Assuming you’ve done your research into your customers and competitors and found a way to take a leadership role in your business or market sector, it is time to start solving your customers’ problems.

Start with this: they might not even know they have a problem. Before you can solve it you have to help them understand they have a problem. This is where your research and thought leadership come into play.

Once you’ve convinced them they have a problem, then you solve it. This isn’t as nefarious as it sounds. This isn’t about manufacturing a need. Every business has challenges they don’t recognize as such. This is about identifying those challenges and offering a solution.

Interesting article from Marketing Week on keeping your brand on focus in the future. The article talks about B2C, but it’s just as true for B2B products and services.

• Inspiration can come from the most unexpected places. Keep your eyes and ears open to the world around you, and see what jumps out.
• Understand your current market and you’ll have a better chance of figuring out what will be important to them in the future.
• Be flexible. One new technology or unexpected discovery can change the game overnight.

A key aspect of content marketing is giving your audience what they need. To do this, you have to learn about and understand trends in your market.  You have to understand what your clients need right now and what they’ll need in the future. That takes a bit of research.

1. Demographics. Who are your clients? Women or men? How old?  What is their job title? Where are they in the country?
2. History. What events or needs have caused them to purchase your product or service in the past? Can you reasonably anticipate these situations in the future? Do you know what signs to look for in their communications and corporate behavior that would indicate these situations?
3. Correlation. Do you understand related businesses and forces that effect your client’s business?
4. Inquiry. Have you asked your customers directly about their needs? Or about where they see the market heading?